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Refs may not be fair to Celtics in Cleveland

By Dennis Whitton, dwhitton@lowellsun.com

Updated:
05/17/2018 09:51:32 AM EDT

The Cleveland Cavaliers do not seem particularly interested in advancing to the 2018 NBA Finals. They've put together two fairly lackluster efforts against the Celtics in the first two games of the Eastern Conference finals and trail, 0-2.

But while the Cavs don't appear to care, the National Basketball Association most certainly does.

A Finals without LeBron? A Finals with no-name ratings-killers like Marcus Morris, Terry Rozier, Aron Baynes and Greg Monroe? A Finals without a Steph Curry (or James Harden) vs. LeBron James promotional opportunity?

Not on our watch!

It's time to cue the zebras. Look for a lot of head-scratching whistles when the teams finally resume festivities on Saturday night after three open travel days during which both clubs will hopefully find their way to Ohio.

Traveling? Traveling? No sir, not Sir James. You can bet he'll be the beneficiary of a lot of calls at both ends of the floor from here on in. The league will do everything in its power to get The Man to his eighth consecutive NBA Finals, even though, like we said earlier, the Cavs don't seem to care.

Which is not to take anything away from the Celtics. Brad Stevens has this rag-tag bunch hitting all the right spots as they zero in on an Eastern Conference title. If there were a Coach of the Year Award for the playoffs, Stevens would have already sewn it up.

Kind of makes you wonder whether C's owner Wyc Grousbeck wasted all that green on Kyrie Irving ($20 million a year) and Gordon Hayward ($30 million per), who have been reduced to mere cheerleaders for the postseason.

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They sit and watch in their Sunday finest while the aforementioned guys like Morris ($5M), Rozier ($2M), Baynes ($4.3M) and Monroe ($5M) light up the Boston sports scene.

You can count on the Association, ever-conscious of their TV ratings, doing everything in its power to get LeBron & Co. back on track before it's too late. Even if they have to drag them kicking and screaming to do it.

Hither and yon ...

It says here you can't possibly root for a first-year franchise (the Vegas Golden Knights) to win the hallowed Stanley Cup. Just doesn't seem right. Nor can you pull for an ice hockey team that plays on the Florida coast.

So we're looking for a Washington-Winnipeg Cup final -- Ovechkin vs. Hellebuyck. And as always when the Bruins are out of it (and even when they aren't), Yours Truly is pulling for the team from Canada. It's just more important to those fans. ...

Whatever happened to NASCAR? Auto racing seems to be headed the way of horse racing, boxing, duckpin bowling and hopscotch. And you know why: Too many safety features on the cars meaning fewer full-out, landscape-clearing wrecks. ...

In case you missed it, the New England Bobcats, an arena football team, have some home games coming up at the Chelmsford Forum. The Bobcats host the Capital City Seawhawks this Saturday and the Carolina Cowboys the following Saturday (both 7 p.m.).

The 'Cats play in the Elite Indoor Football League. Tickets are $15 general admission, with discounts for kids and families. For info, log onto nebobcatsfootball.com. ...

Robinson Cano has to be the dumbest guy in sports. Banned for 80 games plus any postseason action for a positive banned-substance test, Cano is out nearly $12 million in salary and his "legacy" is taking a big hit. ...

The Carolina Panthers are being sold to the president of a global hedge fund. Sounds familiar. The Panthers had better be prepared to play with about 40 players and four coaches on the roster. The salary cap will not be a problem, trust me. And don't get too accustomed to that hot water in the shower, guys -- that's a revenue-killer.

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